Federal authorities investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) over issues including potential child sex trafficking may have a second cooperating witness, according to a new report from POLITICO. The New York Times has already reported that Gaetz’s associate Joel Greenberg, who is currently facing charges including child sex trafficking, has been providing information to authorities for months. Now, POLITICO says that the young woman who was victimized by Greenberg as a minor and may have also been victimized by Gaetz as a minor might be cooperating with the wide-ranging investigation.
Referencing the young woman in question, POLITICO says that Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend “has told friends she’s worried that the woman who is key to the federal government’s sex-crimes investigation tried to get her to incriminate the Florida lawmaker on a recorded call.” The friends of Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend “did not provide details about exactly what was discussed, but one recounted that Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend said she was opposed to talking to authorities and is now worried that prosecutors might try to charge her with obstructing justice in order to get to Gaetz,” POLITICO adds.
Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, the child trafficking victim, and the third woman who was on the potentially recorded conference call were all part of a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where prostitution is suspected of possibly unfolding, which would have seemingly constituted international sex trafficking involving Gaetz (who was also present) and others. Federal authorities are clearly serious about their investigation, no matter any claims of innocence on Gaetz’s part — feds seized the Congressman’s phone late last year.
The Daily Beast has revealed a slew of seemingly quite incriminating Venmo records involving Gaetz. At one point, Gaetz sent Greenberg $900 via the app with a directive in a memo line to “hit up” a certain then-18-year-old who had been apparently victimized by Greenberg when she was still a minor. (It seems safe to assume that the young woman is the same individual who may now be cooperating with authorities.) The next morning, Greenberg sent a total of $900 to the young woman and two others, suggesting that Greenberg could have been acting as some kind of intermediary for the Congressman.
